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we say. Researchers at the University of Toronto think the pace of everyday speech may be a better indicator of cognitive decline than difficulty finding a word."This suggests that talking speed should be tested as part of standard cognitive assessments to help clinicians detect cognitive decline faster and help older adults support their brain health as they age.
"To explore why that is, researchers asked 125 healthy adults, aged 18 to 90, to describe a scene in detail. Next, the participants were shown pictures of everyday objects while listening to audio that was designed to confirm or confuse them. For instance, if participants were shown a picture of a broom, the audio might say 'groom', which helps them recall the word through rhyme. But on the flip side, the audio might also offer a related word like 'mop', which can momentarily lead the brain astray. The faster a person's natural speech in the first task, the more quickly they came up with answers in the second task. The findings align with the 'processing speed theory', which argues that a general slowdown in cognitive processing lies at the very center of cognitive decline, not a slowdown in memory centers specifically."In natural speech, older adults also tend to produce more dysfluencies such as unfilled and filled pauses in between speech and have a generally slower speech rate.", dementia researcher Claire Lancaster said that the study from Toronto"has opened exciting doors… showing that it's not just what we say but how fast we say it that can reveal cognitive changes."Neuroimaging records of 237 cognitively unimpaired adults suggest that those with greater tau burdens tended to have a slower speech rate, longer pauses between speech, and more pauses overall.Perhaps participants dealing with early memory issues are still finding the right answer; they are just taking longer to get there, leading to slower speech with more pauses.The verbal fluency test can offer insights into which regions of the brain are affected by cognitive decline. "This suggests that speech changes reflect development of Alzheimer's disease pathology even in the absence of overt cognitive impairment," the authors of the 2023 studyBlood Test 'Clock' Can Predict Alzheimer's Symptoms Before They EmergeBig breakthroughs. Bold ideas. Straight to your inbox.
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